The dinosaur egg fossils from the Xixia Basin,Henan with discussions on dinosaur extinction

The dinosaur egg fossils are conspicuous by their significant quantities,varied types and nest preservation in the Late Cretaceous red continental clastic rock series including the Gaogou Formation,Majiacun Formation and Sigou Formation in the Xi xia Basin, Henan.They are involved in seven families,eight genera and ten species,and substan-tially decrease,from bottom to top,in types,quantities,egg-containing horizon and nest, i.e.about five families,six genera,seven species and ten layers of egg-containing hori-zons in the Gaogou Formation,and only one family,one genus,two species and two lay-ers of egg-containing horizons in the Sigou Formation.There is still considerable debate concerning the issues of dinosaur extinction.The authors contend that the reason for di-nosaur extinction is related not only to the extraterrestrial but also to the intraterrestrial catastrophic events as well as to dinosaurs themselves.